It’s been 17 years, 10 movies and a sorely missing cameo from Hugh Jackman in Deadpool. Last year, after a two-year break, Professor X and the gang mutated back onto screen with X-Men: Apocalypse – and now it’s coming to M-Net Movies.
Here are five reasons you should be tuning into the latest X instalment.
Hugh Jackman
Jackman’s cameo in Apocalypse marks his final appearance in the franchise before his Wolverine swansong in the upcoming Logan. As the broody, adamantium-clawed antihero he’s stolen the show and become a fan favourite since his first appearance, back in 2000. We’ll be sad to see him go, but outside of X-Men he’s proved his acting worth and we look forward to whatever he gets up to next.
The New Cast
Plenty of talent from Game of Thrones has been transitioning to the big screen, especially into established franchises. Sophie Turner is one of them, making her X-Men debut as a young Jean Grey. Oscar Isaac hops, skips and jumps from one franchise to the next, dropping his Star Wars’ piloting gear to play Apocalypse’s big bad, En Sabah Nur/Apocalypse.
The Returning Cast
We love Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart as Magneto and Professor Charles Xavier, and the filmmakers struck gold again when they cast Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy as their younger counterparts. The latter pair is back in Apocalypse, minus some hair. The closest thing Professor X gets to a love interest returns in the form of the wonderful Rose Byrne as Moira MacTaggert. Other returns include Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult as Mystique and Beast, although the former spends more time as a blonde than a blue. American Horror Story addicts can enjoy Evan Peters’ return as Quicksilver, while MacGyver fans get to watch Lucas Till reprise his role as Havok. Three actors have played William Stryker, and Lucas Helman makes his second appearance as the young colonel, in Apocalypse.
Crash Boom Bang
Not, it’s not a cameo by Roxette. We’re talking about the special effects, which will blow you away. Although the franchise has always touched upon important themes and been filled to burst with diverse talent, they never renege on the visuals either and they get bigger and bolder with every movie.
It Might Be the Last X-Men Movie
Or it might not. Besides Logan and Deadpool 2 – which are respectively coming soon and in pre-production – there are other X-Men-related projects brewing in Hollywood’s imagination. There have been whispers about The New Mutants, Gambit and X-Force, amongst others; but whether or not we’ll see the actors who’ve been playing our favourite mutants for years return to their roles remains to be seen.
Watch X-Men: Apocalypse, your Sunday night movie on 5 March at 20:05 on M-Net.
If comic book adaptations aren’t your thing, don’t despair! We have two more Sunday night movie selections:
On M-Net Movies Premiere at 20:30 you can watch Mia Wasikowska and Johnny Depp reprise their roles as Alice and the Mad Hatter in Alice Through the Looking Glass.
On M-Net Edge at 21:00 you can hail a cab with an action-comedy penned by Luc Besson, Taxi.
What will you be watching? Share your choice on social media using #SundayNightMovie.